Developing DACADACA en desarrollo

Developing DACA

New campaign targets undocumented and uninsured

“This campaign will be the largest effort across the country,” said MOIA Assistant Commissioner Bitta Mostofi.

Relief for many undocumented and uninsured residents might be spelled out in four letters: DACA.

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) has partnered with the New York State Health Foundation to launch a multilingual advertising campaign targeting uninsured immigrant New Yorkers eligible for the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The two-month campaign aims to reach more than 300,000 immigrants to educate them about DACA and emphasize health care benefits such as Medicaid that are available to recipients.

It will include transit ads, social media outreach and ads in ethnic and community newspapers produced in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Haitian-Creole, Polish, Urdu and Bangla.

The campaign was announced by MOIA and New York State Health Foundation officials at a May 5 press briefing held at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s Center for Community and Ethnic Media.

Though about 85,000 New Yorkers are estimated to be eligible for DACA, only 36,072 had applied for the protected status by the end of 2015, explained MOIA Assistant Commissioner Bitta Mostofi.

In addition to temporary protection from deportation, DACA provides work authorization and a Social Security number for young immigrants.

To request DACA status, applicants must have arrived in the United States prior to their 16th birthday, have been under age 31 as of June 15, 2012, must be in school or have graduated from high school, and also meet other eligibility rules.

While planning the campaign, MOIA held focus groups with community members to discuss barriers facing potential DACA applicants, said Mostofi, where the agency learned that many New Yorkers were unaware of DACA benefits and application information.

The discussion was held at the Graduate School of Journalism.

“This campaign will be the largest effort across the country to highlight low-income DACA recipients’ potential Medicaid eligibility and other benefits,” stated Mostofi. “It will facilitate enrollment among income-eligible DACA recipients and currently undocumented potential DACA applicants.”

Amy Shefrin, Program Officer at the New York State Health Foundation, which is funding the ad campaign with a grant, said her agency has dedicated significant resources to expand health insurance coverage across the state.

“In New York City, it’s a challenge to get everyone insured,” said Shefrin. “We have a very large undocumented population, and many of them are shut out from coverage.”

In 2013, approximately 63.9 percent or 345,000, of the city’s undocumented individuals were uninsured.

Shefrin said it is widely believed that Medicaid is not available to DACA recipients. While it is not part of federal policy, she noted, several jurisdictions — New York, Massachusetts, California and Washington, D.C. — use their own funds to provide Medicaid benefits to DACA recipients.

“Even the most engaged DACA activist could be unaware that they may qualify for a Medicaid program that’s funded by New York State,” said Shefrin. “There’s a lot of confusion out there.”

Cesar Andrade, a DACA recipient born in Ecuador and raised in Washington Heights, interned in 2014 for the New York State Health Foundation, where he worked on ways to increase health insurance access for immigrants.

However, he said he was initially unaware that Medicaid was available to DACA recipients. Once he discovered it was a benefit, Andrade said the Medicaid application process was quite simple.

“DACA has opened up many, many doors for me,” said Cesar Andrade.

“And just like that, I had health insurance,” he remarked.

Andrade, who will be entering medical school this fall, credited DACA with providing numerous benefits to him since the program became available during his junior year of college.

“I was able to apply to volunteer at hospitals, because you need a Social Security number for that, and I applied for internships at the New York State Health Foundation, and from there I got me my first real job at Mount Sinai doing research,” Andrade said. “DACA has opened up many, many doors for me.”

In New York, people can get Medicaid while still waiting for their DACA application to process, noted Shefrin.

She suggested that the city’s new advertising campaign could prove a boon for DACA enrollment.

“With the city’s logo on every ad, people can trust what it says,” Shefrin remarked. “It will make it clear to immigrants that they have options, and encourage thousands to enroll in health insurance coverage that they need and deserve.”

While Andrade reported an easy time with the Medicaid application, he admitted that the DACA application itself was “a bit complicated.”

He suggested that the cost of filing a DACA application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, currently $465, could be a reason why more immigrants do not seek to enroll in the program.

“It’s a challenge to get everyone insured,” said Program Officer Amy Shefrin.

“And it’s the first time that many people are being public about their status and submitting it to the federal government — so it’s scary, also,” remarked Andrade.
Mostofi pointed out that limited fee exemptions for DACA do exist, and that immigrants should get a legal screening to determine the benefits they are eligible for.
She said that New Yorkers can contact MOIA for assistance getting free legal help.

“I think this can be a real-game changer in terms of informing people what’s available and how they’re able to provide for their families,” said Rodrigo Sánchez-Camus, Supervising Attorney of the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC). “People may not be aware of what they’re eligible for, and are currently incurring huge medical bills, when they can have coverage. I think this is going to change people’s lives.”

ImagiNATIONS by Andrea Arroyo│ ImagiNACIONES por Andrea Arroyo

NYC Department for the Aging

Afro Latin Jazz Alliance

Hailing from Costa Rica, Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, who lived as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S. for four years, is thriving in New York City. As a queer, partially blind artist, Christopher empowers his peers and our communities alike, just by being himself. #IHW2020pic.twitter.com/J1XWv3pUOC

Acacia Network

National Domestic Violence Hotline

National Domestic Violence Hotline

Missing Vulnerable Adult Alert.

A Brief History of CUNY

CUNY

What You Need to Know About COVID-19

Lo que necesita saber sobre COVID-19

At 168 – Columbia Presbyterian Med Ctr stop we’re hitting all the surfaces people touch. Pres Utano: If MTA officials and the authority’s chief hatchet man are still thinking about laying off transit workers, they need to have their heads examined." #coronavirus@CentralLaborNYCpic.twitter.com/DPFlLcVUXH